Drabbles
by Etrangere
Summary: A collection of drabbles for X1999 and Tokyo Babylon
1. Lies

**Lies**

He lies all the time. 

Sweet lies. Smooth lies. Easy like a smile that rolls under his tongue like chocolate. 

He likes what the lies do. The pretty pictures they make in people's eyes. 

He lies to anyone, to nobodies, to everyone. 

He lies to Subaru. 

Subaru believes every lies, and they wash over him in waves of sorrow sweeping the seashore. 

Every time he comes to see him, he makes another lie, another story, another non explanation. A thousand of alternatives, none of them real, but Subaru believes them so they become true, for a night. 

He doesn't believe his own lies. He's not that desperate. 

Sometimes he wonders how things would have been if he had been better at believing his own lies. 


	2. Let him fly

**Let him fly**

You never could be content to let him fly, could you? 

You had to keep him with you, with chains of guilt in a cage of pleading words. To keep him with you, you'd have done anything. 

Don't give me this look, /Kamui/, I'm not likely to feel ashamed. Heartless assassin, remember ? 

What ? You think you're worth more than me... because you did it out of love ? Please, don't give me that lie. I know all the lies in the book, and made quite a few. The things you do for love are rarely good. You can break people with love. You can wound them so deeply they remain crippled for life, like blind nightingale kept to sing only for one ear. 

Why, of course, I'm referring to what I did to him. That makes the both of us very alike, don't you think ? We both couldn't bear to let him fly away - ethereal creature that he is. We were so enamoured of his purity we kept wanting to spoil it. 

Oh, that makes you so angry again. How cute. I can see what appeal the other /Kamui/ saw in you... such fire when you cry. It's not much use to be angry at a ghost, you know, /Kamui/. And it's your own fault you became Sakurazukamori. 

Chains bind both way, you see. I know. 


	3. Rendez Vous

**Rendez Vous**

Setsuka was waiting for her death eagerly. An old friend, for any Sakurazukamori. Besides it meant that, in the winter clad garden, her lovely, darling boy was to bloom at last. She was only remotely melancholy that she wouldn't see him in his full glory, but… 

She knew already that he would be blessed with as fulfilling a death as she. 

The thought painted a mysterious smile on her lips. She could feel time passing like drops of blood falling on a snow-covered ground. Tic. Toc. Drip. 

Death was coming for her, and she was as excited as a young girl preparing her first ball. 


	4. Not time yet

Hokuto died with a smile on her lips and love shining despite the hole poked into her heart. Unnecessary and still, she had made the sacrifice for her brother, and for him. 

Courageous and foolish, to give him a chance; he hadn't been expecting it – even from her. 

Her last startling words kept resonating in his mind, and he wondered… But for a Sakurazukamori, love made you mortal, and death always followed emotions. And, always, fatal embrace was the finale to the dance between lovers. 

He might give Subaru-kun another chance. Eventually, one of them would die. However, Seishirou smiled, it wasn't time yet. 


	5. Countdown

**Countdown**

Three minutes before midnight, Kamui kills Kamui, and blood showers the both of them when the blade finds the heart. 

Until the end, the sob-shaken boy watches the eye of his twin star, expecting a shift as he repeats his name, over and over. 

"So, you made your choice." The Kamui of Earth sounds neither pleased nor appalled, showing only the tender cruelty of an implacable wish-granter. 

Then he shows nothing but a glassy look. 

One minute before midnight, The Kamui of Heavens abandons all hopes. 

Clinging the still body, he waits for the end. 

At midnight, it comes. 


	6. Stay in the family

The cry shook her off her computer induced trance, and she went out of BEAST?s cockpit to be treated to a sight of satin pajamas clad Yuuto, unruly hair underlining his mischievous smile. 

"Nataku", He explained. "Another nightmare."

"Cannot 'Daddy' take care of his own toy ?"

"He tries", Yuuto mused, picking up calming pills. "I think the boy... girl... being just needs a mother."

"Not me, and neither Kanoe-san."

Yuuto's eyes drifted."That woman, with fire, she would do."

Satsuki glared at him. "Let's stay in the family, why don't we."

He sighed dramatically. "Princesses never like their stepmother."


	7. a lesson

In retrospect, asking for Karen's help to better understand Arashi might not have been such a good idea. 

They were only at the third bar, he thought, but they were already starting to blur - a possible effect of the tequilas on rock Karen kept insisting on serving him at each new club - and the beautiful Chinese hostess girl's hands (or was it a boy ? He forgot already if this was one of the cross dressing bar or not) seemed to persist in creeping up his tights no matter how many times he pushed them away, while the other hostess on his left (a western girl from one of those exotic eastern countries with impressive blond hair to go with her impressively short golden outfit) made giggly sounds, rapid blast of foreign phrases from which he could only understand the repeated 'kawai !' and played with his hair with her long sharp red nails; and he definitely had never been so uncomfortable before in his life. His smile stretched so much it hurt. 

In his mind, there was a little video game where all the girls he met tonight had kicked the hell out of every monks living or historical from the Kouya monastery. High heel Kung Fu... there was nothing use against it. 

Desperately, he attempted a look across the table to Karen, but Karen merely smiled at him, not bothering to stop her apparently passionate conversation with the third hostess girl at their table. 

That's it. He couldn't take it anymore. 

Sorata painfully extricated himself from the limbs of the two girls, mumbling some vague apologies, and shambled out of the club. 

When he finally got out in the cold hair, he let himself fall in the fresh snow and took a deep breath, waiting for the world to stop turning around him and settle in a stable environment once more. 

"What is wrong, Sora-chan ?" 

He opened his eye to gauge suspiciously at Karen. 

"I give up Karen-san. I am not going inside this lion's den again." 

Karen winked impishly at him. 

"Does that mean you think you understood why Arashi-san gets so often mad at you when you surround her with too much attention ?" 


	8. fire and ice

**Fire and Ice**

(written for a request for SetsukaxKaren) 

Karen was sitting on the street walk in front of the orphanage when the woman came to her. 

She wore a white and red kimono, and her scarlet lips smiled at her. She was beautiful, like a woman out of a fairy tale. 

She bent down in front of her and looked straight into her eyes. No one ever did that, and it brought a red heat on Karen's cheeks. 

"Hello Karen-chan. I am your mother." The woman said, smiling like a doll. 

"No you're not !" Karen blurted out. "My mother died." 

"No, silly. You're the demon's child, so you couldn't have a human mother. I am your demon mother and I have come to take you home." 

Karen's eyes widened, finding nothing to answer. The red and white woman took her hand, and led her out of the orphanage. 

o O o

Her demon mother never cried for Karen. Maybe she couldn't because she was all snow and ice and frozen water. But she did say she loved her, and to prove it she would kiss Karen. She would kiss her eyes and her hands, her belly (it tickled) and her mouth (it was sloppy). Often she would comb Karen's hair, saying it was beautiful. 

Karen didn't thought her hair was beautiful. It wasn't black, and long and shiny like her demon mother's was. And it was always messy and tangled. Nonetheless, her demon mother said she loved it, and she spent long hours brushing it. 

"It's like fire, bright, vibrant and fascinating. You'll catch many moth with it. I love your hair like fire, my little hellspawn." 

In her demon mother's mouth, words like demonling and hellspawn became words of endearment. Maybe it was okay to be the devil's daughter if you were loved by your own ? 

And she would always let Karen comb her hair. 

o O o

When Karen killed her demon mother and became the new Sakurazukamori, she didn't cry for her. 

She kissed her red lips and said good bye, and left her beautiful pale body laying in the snow. 

Then she left a little plush bear by her side and she put the house of fire. 

It burnt in a lovely way, and oh, so bright. 


	9. Family time

In the empty room of the basement, Kotori's laughter and dancing resonated like strident cries. 

Crouching on the floor, Seishirou was enjoying watching her. Every now and then she went toward him, and he stroke her long, shiny hair as one would flatter a pet. 

A knock at the door. 

"Seishirou ? Kakyou begged me to tell you to stop playing with Kotori. I think it disturbs him." 'Kamui' said nonchalantly. 

Seishirou smirked. "Why ? Does it give him bad dreams ?" 

The Kotori-thing danced to her brother, still giggling, and hugged him. 

'Kamui' looked at her distastefully and used his own power, breaking the onmyouji's hold over the cadaver. Kotori crumbled down again in so many pieces. 

"Kuzuki-kun isn't really one to talk, anyway. He's the one who started up playing with her body", protested Seishirou. 

"He had his reasons, what are yours ?", said 'Kamui', unimpressed by the older man's logic. 

"I'm bored. Besides, who knows ? It could be a way to distract Kamui. He seemed to have a fondness for cradling her head." 

"Won't be needed. And if you're bored, why not go out for ice-cream ?" 

"Deal", smiled Seishirou, who got up and started to follow the Dragon of Earth's leader. Behind him, Kotori reanimated herself and stood up slowly. 

"Without my sister", 'Kamui' shot, without turning back. 

"Sorry, dear", Seishirou said to the now complete once more non-dead. "No family time for you this time." 


	10. the right price

**The Right Price**

"Watanuki, can you answer the door ?", Yuuko shoots from somewhere in the reserve.

Not without a few loud complaints, he does so.

The new customer is tall and of an age difficult to determine, dressed in strange ample clothing. Black hair shadows his light brown eyes as he smiles sweetly at Watanuki.

"Hello, could I talk to the Witch of Dimension, please ?"

Of course, Watanuki doesn't answer because he's busy doubling over with a coughing fit and fleeing in earnest the heavy smoke coming from the deep layers of ghosts and curses tied to the man.

The man seems unperturbed as he steps in the shop and thankfully, Yuuko finally appears, in full wicked witch regalia.

"Good evening, Seishirou-kun." She says, grinning. "State your business."

"There's someone I want to find."

"But he's on another dimension, that will make things difficult..."

"If he wasn't I wouldn't have needed your help to find him", he points out, still smiling.

"It will cost you a lot."

'I'll pay', says Seishirou, casually.

"With you magic ?"

He nods.

"An eye ?"

"What else is needed ?" There's something challenging in his tone.

"That will be enough", Yuuko smiles, preparing herself for the complex magical operation.

That's when from the door that Watanuki didn't think to close, another man appears.

"You." Says the newcomer, mismatched eyes fixed with intensity on the customer.

Seishirou looks astonished. "...Subaru-kun ?" He only have the time to say before the other man literally tackles him, pins him to the floor and starts kissing him.

Watanuki is still gaping at the scene when Yuuko drags him out of the room. "Come on, let's give them some privacy..."

"But... the... they... ?" He stammers trying to grasp for words.

From the other room, muffled sounds and half-articulated cries leave little doubts to what's taking place between the two men.

Yuuko smiles wickedly. "I think he had waited for a long time for this."

"B-but that's not how the drabble was supposed to go !" Watanuki protests loudly, and with wide gestures.

"Subaru paid a lot for this, in treasures from both the Sumeragi house and the Sakurazuka clans", Yuuko says, eyes shining gleefully as she contemplates her new prized possessions. "The least I could do was honour his wish."

"That's bribery !"

"Blame the writer."

Watanuki gives up. "You have no deontology."

o O o 

"Subaru-kun...?"

"Mmm ?"

"You realize at one point I will go and seek _my_ Subaru-kun."

"Humhum."

"As soon as I find a way of removing these ties, in fact."

"The Sakura never let its prey go free, Seishirou-san."


	11. Lightning could strike

**Lightning could strike**

Rain was falling soundly in front of her, missing her by barely a few inches from the meagre protection of the porch in front of the shut store. 

She was waiting. Her mother had told her to wait until she could finish her courses, and Arashi was nothing if not a good girl who did what her mother told her. 

Still, it was cold, and dark, and far away thunder kept growling; and Arashi was thinking about the way her mother was coughing lately. She didn't like it one bit. 

Water splashed in front of her, a small little tsunami that reached up her shoes. In the yellow light of the neon, she saw the face of the small boy who had just jumped in a puddle, wet and waterproof in his yellow kindergarten uniform, and he smiled like an idiot. 

"Heyyyyyyy !" He shouted, apparently persuaded that she was deaf. "Wanna play ?" 

Arashi blinked, unused to the boy's accent. 

"I'm Sora-chan ! You're pretty ! I like your hair, Nee-chan !", He added in a sudden flood, and joining gesture to words, grasped a big lock of her hair. 

Arashi resolutely decided that she would have none of it. "Let it go ! Letitgoletitgoletitgo ! LETITGO !" she shouted high pitched, starting to rain blows and scratches on him. Soon enough, they were rolling in the mud, rainwater messing up all of Arashi's clothes. Then as suddenly as it had started, it was over, and Sora-chan was near her, having finally let go of her hair, and merrily laughing. "Waoh, Nee-chan ! You can fight ! That's so cool !" 

Dumbfounded, Arashi sat too, finding no reasons anymore to scream or fight. In the distance, lightning stroke, flaring briefly at them. Arashi flinched in anticipation of the quaking blow of thunder, while Sora-chan stood up in anticipation and shouted "BA-DA-BOOM-BAM !" in perfect synchronization with the blast. 

"Are you afraid of the storm; Nee-chan ?" The hyperactive boy asked, turning toward her his wild grin. "You shouldn't ! It's like... God is playing drums, you know ? BAM-BA-DA-BAM-DOOM !" He said, mimicking the gesture of someone beating a drum. 

Arashi looked at him suspiciously. Was the boy making fun of her ? "I'm not afraid !", she said haughtily. "I just prefer it when it's quiet." 

"But quiet is booooo-ring !" Sora-chan protested, "And when there's no storm, I can't do that." He raised his hands and small blue sparkling lines started hopping between his fingers, like miniature lightning. 

Arashi's eyes widened. "It's pretty." She admitted. He smiled at her more softly and under the rain they watched the light dance in rhythm with the wind howling for a while. 

"SORA-CHAN !" A woman's voice called out. The boy startled and the glow stopped. The woman strode to them, all the way yelling "How can you have done this Sora-chan ? I TOLD you you had to stay with your comrades and NEVER leave the group while we where visiting Tokyo ! You are a bad, bad boy !" She took him under her arms and carried him away, continuing to scold him all the way. 

Arashi watched them walking away wonderingly, twisting a lock of her hair. Sora-chan waved at her until he was out of view. 

The soft music of rain went on, only interrupted by the staccato of thunder. And lightning stroke, like sudden spotlight illuminating the stage. 


	12. All the lights had gone out

All the lights had gone out. Except for seven, up in the sky. And one other. 

Kamui laid wounded under his arm. He was loosing - had already lost - a lot of blood; and even if Fuuma was panicked at the situation ( memory flashes - wires, violence, bits of flesh raining over him and wishes, every wishes unfolding, weighting, pushing, demanding, insisting, crying - and no place to flee as the whole world came quacking out of order) he was trying to focus on that fact and on how to help Kamui. 

But they were trapped. Towers of metals came crashing in the earthquake surrounded them. In the ruins of Tokyo's last Kekkai, buried under tons of concrete, it was a miracle alone that they were still alive. Not to mention that they had air to breath and saw faintly, from such high, unreachable point, six stars and one dual sun shining from above. 

"I made it. I got you back." 

Kamui, as unlikely as it was, was smiling triumphantly at him. 

"Don't speak... You must keep your strength. Rescue will come soon..." 

The younger boy shook his head. "No one will come. It's the end of the world." 

"Don't-" 

Kamui stopped him with one hand over his mouth. 

"I don't care. I've got you. I've got now." 

Fuuma stared in disbelief as Kamui's smile turned tender. 

"There's something I wanted to tell you." 

They didn't get much time, but in the end, time is what you make of it. 

o O o

The long night caused by the big earthquake lasted several months of dust obscuring the light of the sun. No one among the spare survivors knew why across the heavy clouds, alone, eight stars shone on until the spring came back. 


	13. Colours

He was born in winter, in soft flakes caressing dark lashes and red lips as they whispered the truth of his future demise. Black, and red, and white - like death, love, innocence. He wasn't sure to believe them yet. 

Spring came, and with it came the verdant hope of a child's eyes. The green was spattered with sparkling tears, and in their depth shimmered waves of caring. He tried to tell them about white and red, and the rose of tainted innocence. The green-eyed child wouldn't understand. 

Therefore came summer, running recklessly like a young boy who, keeping his eyes on the winged sky, falls harshly on the ground. The year-long summer was dressed in many colours, a full scale rainbow : blue and pink, red and green, yellow and black; and in vinyl, in polyester and satin and many other fabrics as an impish sprite would dress it and comment on the appeal of colours. Summer ended up with a virginal cloth dyed by crimson drops nonetheless. That was as it was fit to be. 

By autumn, everything was grey. Like mist weighting on the November morning, like ash-tainted fingers warped around precious vain cigarettes, like eyes too wearied to cry anymore. And wasn't it ironic, then, that this colourless twilight happened on a rainbow ? Still, the last thing he saw in dimming half-light was stark and bright, his own blood on a pale coat and dark lashes bleeding away. Red and white and black - like love, innocence and death. 


	14. Touch

Hokuto knew about the seals on her brother's hands, though she would never let it show. It was his secret, the one secret that he never told her, but there was nothing that Subaru could hide from her, and so she knew; as she knew every other parcels of skins of his body and mind. 

She made gloves for him. Leather gloves, velvet gloves, white wool for winter, and blue silk for summer. She though of the fabric softly caressing his skin, enfolding his fingers like her own hand had used to, for reassurance. 

Once, they had always been like that, always close to each others, always touching each others with hands or lips or feet. Children engrossed in the wonderment of discovering each others and themselves, of learning what it was to experience and care for someone else. After all, they had had only each others. No mother, no father, and only the distant cold voice of their grieving grandmother for direction. But they had had each others – close, warm and soft – and that had been enough. 

Then Subaru had gone for one year in Tokyo; and Hokuto had remained alone. Every day she had applied herself to sew and knit, to make her first attempt at garments that she mailed him so that he would have something of hers close, warm and soft. 

When Subaru had come back, he had been changed. Stained with scars on the back of his hands to be concealed and veiled, a secret to fill the silence between them and nightmares that woke him up breathless and confused in the night. 

The seals were a barriers between the two of them. They separated their skin from touching each others as they had used to be. 

It was a very thin barrier : she could still take her brother in her arms and comfort him when he was crying and discouraged. And she could make pretty clothes to mark him as hers, hers and not the seals'. But even though, she knew that the barrier would widen; that someday someone would come and take Subaru away from her. All she could hope was that this person would make Subaru happy, and care for him as she had done. 

So Hokuto said nothing of the seals, but looked for this person and spent her time drawing clothes for Subaru's wedding day. 


	15. Curiosity

note: made for the curiosity challenge at x100

When Kamui came back to Tokyo, he had many questions in mind. Why did his mother die ? Why were those men attacking him ? Why were so many people stalking him ?

But the more answers he got, the more questions arose and with them disasters, striking him and the people he loved, shredding to tears his life and expectations.

Kamui became wary of asking questions. Those dreamgazers were only good at unleashing misfortune.

Still, a package came in his dreams, wrapped in feathers and petals. Eventually, curiosity got him.

He looked inside the box...

_The future is not yet decided_

...and saw hope.


	16. Souvenirs

**Note** : for the clamp100 souvenirs topic

In the box for safekeeping :

A photography. One face carefully destroyed so that only two smiles.

A tube of very pink lipstick. The tip was destroyed to write 'Seishirou :heart Subaru' on a bathroom mirror.

An unfinished sketch of a blossoming cherry tree.

A pack of cigarettes, bought and never used in a Karaoke room.

Blood-tainted bandage, no more covering an eyeless socket.

There's power in things. Power to be summoned, or power to be stored away.

Sometimes, things of power might even end up owning you.

He puts the box on the fire and watches it burn. He will not need it anymore.


End file.
